Should I continue down the DIR path?

[ChaosHokie]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a looong time, but I'm kind of looking for some advice.

About 2 years ago, I took an UTD Essentials of Rec class--and failed. I took the class for a few reasons: I wanted to be a better diver, and I was enamored with all the GUE/UTD stuff on this board, elsewhere, and watching youtube videos. I wanted to gain confidence and experience in a controlled environment on how to be a safer diver as well. I have an AOW cert from PADI that I think is useless, and I refuse to get anymore certs from them.

Anyways, I wound up failing the class the first time around. According to my instructor, I needed more time in the water, more practice, etc and I should've gone back after 6 months to finish up the class. Well....life happened with baby #3, new job, etc, so I put it all on the back burner. I've managed to still go diving occasionally, and practice most of the skills from the Essentials class, but here in Northern VA the quarries get old, and it's hard to just pack up and do a destination dive. The other thing I've found is that since I don't normally dive with UTD people, a lot of the team stuff, dive planning, etc don't really work when you're diving with random buddies.

I want to mention that I don't really have the risk tolerance for technical diving currently (see 3 kids), so that's not a concern. I'm still not comfortable on 100' dives and I have an awful air consumption rate.

So, now I find myself in this limbo state of wanting to further my diving training with the reality of being a vacation diver...With all that being said, should I stick with UTD's Recreational Path (or switch to GUE)? Should I bother with going back and retaking the Essentials class? Or should I just chill and dive and not worry about it.

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I really think you can't go wrong with further Essentials/Fundies type of training. It will improve your basic skills, buoyancy, trim and comfort in the water, which translates into more enjoyable diving, whatever your goals are.

The reason UTD and GUE have recreational training paths is that both organizations recognize that the same techniques used to make technical diving efficient and safe also make recreational diving more fun.

Most importantly, find an instructor who recognizes your diving goals, and can fine tune the course towards what you hope to achieve, regardless of agency.

 

[tbone1004]

I'd look at UTD's boot camp, if you want to stay with them. After that you'll still have to do fundies with either organization and then you can go that route. Look at your true long term diving goals and which organization best fit your goals. The best solution is to find a mentor in the area, they're out there, but you need to find them. They can help mentor you to the point where you'll pass the next class and be a better diver. Mentorships are most important in this type of diving and finding divers with similar mentalities is key in advancing your skills and confidence.

 

[Rand]

I think you should try to finish Essentials. When I took Essentials, it was explained that few pass the course with just the pool work and open water dives as they are scheduled. Most require at least an additional weekend to get to the point where your skills are passable. Knowing this, the three of us in our class decided to delay our "checkout" dives and instead took two weekends and went to a local quarry where we practiced all the propulsion techniques, Basic 6, SMB deploy, gas switch, valve drill, and bottle passing on our own. We videoed much of the training and critiqued each other after the dives. That helped a lot. When we got to our open water dives of the course, we all passed.

As for the dive planning, yes it doesn't mesh very easily with computer divers. Luckily for me, my wife and another couple are UTD-trained and we vacation together often. So, at a minimum, we usually have a few people with us to form a team who understand rock bottom and our ascent strategy, etc. Where possible, I try to dive with other UTD/GUE divers. When that is not possible, I make sure to explain to the others I'm diving with how I will donate and what all my planned stops are. It usually works out without a big hassle.

I try to dive standard gasses, but that is not always possible on vacation. When standard gasses are not available, I still calculate and dive rock bottom and do all the stops I normally would. Due to the non-standard gasses, I switch one bottom timer back to computer mode.

It sounds like you just need to get in the water and practice more. Go back to your UTD instructor or find a new one if you are not in the same area, and figure out a plan to get you through the course. If that means starting over, or just working certain skills (you should have received an evaluation sheet that lists recommended work you need to do to pass), find out what you need to do to finish it up.

If your profile is correct and you are in NoVa, PM me and I can keep you informed of any practice days we have planned. I know a bunch of divers at various levels of UTD training and we try to get together regularly to practice skills. In this area, we try to go to Hyde's Quarry, but sometimes hit Bainbridge or Lake Rawlings (now Lake Phoenix). Yes, quarries are nothing special, but we see them as nothing more than places to keep our skills sharp. All of these skills are perishable if you don't keep them current. The same goes for the dive planning. You need to keep doing it to keep proficient at it.

I know you have invested a lot in DIR in both equipment and training costs and it would be a shame to throw it all away by starting over somewhere else or with another agency. It would be even worse to never realize your goal of becoming a more proficient, safer, more confident diver. It sounds to me that getting together and diving/practicing with other UTD divers is all that you would need to get back on track.

 

[boulderjohn]

I've managed to still go diving occasionally, and practice most of the skills from the Essentials class, but here in Northern VA the quarries get old, and it's hard to just pack up and do a destination dive. The other thing I've found is that since I don't normally dive with UTD people, a lot of the team stuff, dive planning, etc don't really work when you're diving with random buddies.

I want to mention that I don't really have the risk tolerance for technical diving currently (see 3 kids), so that's not a concern. I'm still not comfortable on 100' dives and I have an awful air consumption rate.

With all that being said, should I stick with UTD's Recreational Path (or switch to GUE)? Should I bother with going back and retaking the Essentials class? Or should I just chill and dive and not worry about it.

So, the amateur psychologist in me wonders, "Hmmm. The guy wants to know if he should continue training through DIR or 'just chill and dive and not worry about it' while diving with people who do not share his training path or ideals. Looking for an answer, he goes to the DIR forum, where only DIR-trained people are allowed to respond. I suspect that somewhere deep inside he may already know what he wants to hear."

It will be a real surprise if anyone in the DIR forum is going to tell you to stop following the DIR instructional path. They probably have opinions about the UTD/GUE question, and some will feel free to express them, but you aren't likely to get many people telling you to just forget about the DIR instructional program and go diving with your friends. If you want to hear that side of the argument, you are going to have to ask your question somewhere else.

But I'll take a run in that direction anyway. You aren't interested in technical diving. You are not comfortable diving to 100 feet, and you have poor air consumption. On the other hand, you have the training you received in a course you didn't complete because you didn't practice enough while you were taking it. Do you remember what you were taught well enough to go off and practice it on your own? Will looking at the online videos freely available to you help with that? Can you develop good buoyancy, trim, and propulsion techniques as you dive with other people who were not so trained? Do you feel those things are valuable? If so, then I am indeed going to suggest that you just relax, go diving, and work on those skills as you dive. Your buddies won't care. If as your life evolves it makes sense to renew your formal training, then go for it.

In the years that followed my own DIR training, I have done hundreds of dives with a very mixed bag of people. Some have been DIR, but by far most have not. I try to be the diver I want to be on those dives; I am always trying to practice and use good technique. When I am teaching, I of course want my students to dive as I do, but when I am just climbing on a boat for a fun dive at an interesting site, what difference does it make if the other divers don't look like me?

 

[TSandM]

The most fulfilling part of training with UTD or GUE is becoming part of a world-wide community of like-minded divers, but the skills are useful, even if you don't have that at home.

It all really depends on what you want. I wanted the stability, the stillness, and precision of this approach to diving, the first time I ever saw someone who could dive that way. Now, DIR is not the only place you can get that kind of training -- virtually all cave divers dive like that, and cavern classes have been recommended for that purpose since I first came on SB. But if you don't live where there are caverns, that can be kind of difficult. You might, however, be able to find an instructor for another agency who is technically trained, or cave trained, who can work with you on this level of skill. The nice thing about UTD and GUE classes is that you don't have to do any investigation to find out what will be taught and how it will be taught -- you already know going in what's going to happen, and what you will be asked to be able to do.

If you want that kind of skill, and you have a UTD instructor available to you, go back to that person and continue your training. Great skills will do nothing but make your diving more fun and less stressful, anywhere and everywhere you go.

 

[ChaosHokie]

So, the amateur psychologist in me wonders, "Hmmm. The guy wants to know if he should continue training through DIR or 'just chill and dive and not worry about it' while diving with people who do not share his training path or ideals. Looking for an answer, he goes to the DIR forum, where only DIR-trained people are allowed to respond. I suspect that somewhere deep inside he may already know what he wants to hear."

It will be a real surprise if anyone in the DIR forum is going to tell you to stop following the DIR instructional path. They probably have opinions about the UTD/GUE question, and some will feel free to express them, but you aren't likely to get many people telling you to just forget about the DIR instructional program and go diving with your friends. If you want to hear that side of the argument, you are going to have to ask your question somewhere else.

LOL. You're probably right, I probably should've asked this in the advanced forum... So since my Essentials class, I've been working on my buoyancy and propulsion. The S drills, SMB deployment, not so much. I will have to say that after having taking the class, I felt way more comfortable in the water, I don't bounce off the bottom or shoot to the surface like I did prior to the class.

Maybe like a few people have mentioned, I just need to find some like-minded dive buddies.

 

[decompression]

It's for cases like this my shop has drop in pool nights. Always an instructor or two to mentor or show some tricks to others. I'd say a couple of pool sessions and almost anyone could ready for essentials.


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[TSandM]

One of the points of the S-drill and SMB deployment, apart from their utility on their own, is to challenge that improved buoyancy and see if it will survive some task-loading and distraction. When you can do things like that without moving off depth or station, you really have your buoyancy solidly down.

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

One of the points of the S-drill and SMB deployment, apart from their utility on their own, is to challenge that improved buoyancy and see if it will survive some task-loading and distraction. When you can do things like that without moving off depth or station, you really have your buoyancy solidly down.

All of the DIR drills are really just exercises in buoyancy, trim and positioning. Which are the three core skills that will make your everyday diving more enjoyable, every time, with any team.